Rebellion
by Heichou's Pet
Summary: "I've got a plan..." The boy's brown eyes circled around the group of his peers. Levi had a bad feeling that whatever the teen was thinking, it would be stupid and ridiculously dangerous, as was normal with him. His thoughts were assured when Abdal opened his mouth again. "We're going to create our own army. We're going to take down the corrupt Police and kill the King!" OC's
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**: Hello! This is my first major fanfic EVER, so I hope it's good and people like it! I came up with the idea one night at work, actually. You know, when you're bored out of your mind you can come up with some of the best stuff you've ever thought of. I can, at least. :3

This fanfiction will contain Primarily OC's, but please don't let this scare you off. I know a lot of people don't like fanfictions with OC's (Me being one of them), but since I'm still new to the world of fanfiction, I found writing with my own characters was a lot easier than trying to get the personalities of all of Isayama's characters down perfect. Of course it will have Levi in it as a main character, and there will be a few guest appearances by other characters from the anime/manga (Not gonna spoil those for you just yet), but it is primarily OC's. I hope you guys don't mind. Not all of my stories will have OC's.

Also, I apologize if I accidentally switch between 'Scouting Legion' and 'Survey Corps'. Couldn't decide on which to call it (Ended up going with Scouting Legion, so if there's a few 'Survey Corps' in there, my bad)

Now, after an uncomfortably long Author's note, let's get into the story, shall we?

**DISCLAIMER**: Lucius and other OC's belong to me. Levi and Attack on Titan do not.

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The Military Police; the king's personal lap dogs. Once upon a time they were respected and many young children looked up to them, one day hoping to join the ranks themselves. It was known that only the best of the best soldiers could make it in to the Police, and so trainees tried extra hard to work their way to the top of their graduating classes, many doing whatever it took just to get there.

Because of this, the Police were also known to be full of corrupt, backstabbing men and women as of late. Soldiers who had gone as far as to kill their comrades before graduation just to boost their placement by default; ones that joined the Police merely for the status and not for protecting the citizens and making sure everyone lived in peace in the inner wall. Some even found enjoyment in making regular citizens as miserable as possible.

During the depression in the Years 820-837, many people, even within the normally wealthy wall of Sina, lost their homes or couldn't afford to provide for their families. Taxes had been raised to insanely high levels and unemployment rose with it. Many resorted to stealing just to eat. Those who couldn't deal with the stress took an alternative route out: whether by gun to the head or knife to the throat or wrists. The latter was more common, guns being horded by the Military Police.

Members of the Police made it their mission to show up at the funerals of those who'd killed themselves and taunt the dead, right in front of their families, most times. They'd laugh at the homeless children, scrounging for scraps in alleyway dumpsters, occasionally flicking a coin or two at them, aiming directly for their heads. While hundreds of citizens suffered in poverty, they relished in riches, working directly under the king.

As for the king, he did nothing to stop the torment his people faced day in and day out by his subordinates. After all, he'd been the one to put them in the situation in the first place. Since the current king had taken the throne after the previous king- his father's- death, things had been getting worse and worse for anyone who wasn't born into nobility. The young king was greedy and only cared about himself, that much was obvious. Some even speculated he'd killed his own father to get to the throne sooner.

That speculation, of course, only made the Military Police's torment that much worse. They began to arrest people for treason, even if they'd done nothing or not said a word to suggest they would go against the king. Many innocent people were unjustly thrown in jail, some even killed. Blood soaked the streets these days, and, sadly, everyone had grown used to it.

In the year 823, Dmitri Ackerman, one of the Scouting Legion's best soldiers, was counted among those casualties. Many members of the Scouting Legion, especially the higher-ups, were being accused of treason simply because they were fighters for justice, and they knew the King and the Military Police were corrupt and unjust. Many escaped with their lives and freedom, because humanity couldn't afford not to have them fighting the Titans for them, but some were less fortunate. Dmitri had been hard-headed, and spoke his mind. He always said what he felt, no matter the consequence. Well, the consequence one fateful day when he'd called the king a 'Greedy, Shit-headed Pig', had been a bullet to the head, courtesy of an MP handgun. His blood had stained the streets, and his two young sons, that day.

Now, in the year 825, Dmitri's wife, Darline, was also under suspicion of treason. She'd lost most of her will to live when her husband had been killed, the only reason she hadn't gone off and killed herself or as many Military Police members as she could is she was the only one left to take care of their sons. The twin boys, now nine years old, had no other family. No aunts or uncles, no grandparents… nothing that she knew of at least. Her entire family was deceased and Dmitri had lost contact with his before she'd even met him. As far as either of them had known, they were all dead. She was all the two boys had left, and they were all she had left in the world. She swore she'd never leave their sides.

The three had gone in to hiding when they'd learned that Darline was being hunted down. They were currently all huddled together in the basement of an abandoned house on the outskirts of the city, while the MP rampaged through the nearby buildings looking for them. She knew time was growing shorter until they were eventually found, and her fear mounted, spreading to the boys sitting on either side of her, clinging to her shirt.

She felt them tremble, and soothingly ran her fingers through raven black hair. "Shh… Lucius, Levi… don't worry, everything will be fine. Momma won't let anything bad happen."

She admitted she maybe babied the two a bit. They were nine now, after all. They were growing in to little men right before her eyes. They'd stopped calling her 'mommy' or even 'momma' a few years ago, they insisted on doing everything for themselves, and they even sparred with the wooden swords their father had crafted and taught them to use before his death. But, they were her babies, and would still be her babies when they were full-grown adults.

She just hoped she got to see them get that old.

"Mom…?" Lucius spoke up to her left, peering up at her with ice-blue eyes. "Are the Police coming to get you, too…?"

Levi tensed up on her right, clutching her shirt tighter in his fist. She smiled lightly, rubbing the boy's back as she answered his brother's question. "Yes…. They are." She wouldn't lie to her sons, no matter how much she wanted to protect them. "But, don't worry… Nothing will ever tear me away from you two. Not even a Titan could separate us. Understand?"

Lucius nodded, mirroring his mother's smile. "Understand." He looked over to the other boy, who'd been silent up till now. "Understand, Levi?"

Levi didn't respond because, quite honestly, he didn't understand. How could his mother and brother be saying such things? He'd seen what the Police had done to his father. And now they were coming, with the intent to do the same to his mother. But the other two acted as if truly nothing bad would happen. If they were found, he knew exactly what would happen, and his chest tightened in fear because of it.

"Levi?" Lucius frowned, looking over at his brother. It wasn't normal for the other boy to be so quiet. In fact, Levi was usually the loudmouth of the two brothers. He'd definitely taken more after Dmitri, whereas Lucius was more like Darline in personality.

"Levi, dear, are you okay?" Darline frowned lightly at her younger son, running her fingers through his hair. Her only response was a nod, which wasn't sincere at all, but she decided not to pester him further about it. Besides, the sound of the front door of the house being kicked off its hinges a floor above them spurred them all into silence.

Having taken it upon herself to lock the basement door and blockade it with as many heavy items as she could find on the lower floor, Darline found she was a lot calmer than she ought to be. If the Police insisted on breaking through the barricade, she'd at least have enough time to help the twins get through the small window to the outside that they hid beneath.

Heavy footsteps sounded above them, causing dust from the basement ceiling to rain down. Lucius had gone back to hiding his face in his mother's chest, both boys trying to find some kind of comfort as the threat quite literally loomed over them.

Darline held the boys tightly, trying to soothe them. She whispered in a worried tone as the footsteps moved closer to where the door leading to the basement was. "It'll be okay, my loves… don't you worry, it will all be okay… nothing will happen to you, nothing will tear us apart…"

The door wiggled violently, the person on the other side of it trying to pry it open, only to find it locked. Muffled voices were heard, and more sets of footsteps headed towards the door.

Levi finally looked up at his mother, steel-grey eyes burning into hers. "Mom… they're going to try to break the door down…"

Just as he'd finished the sentence, a great jolt rattled the door and splintered the wood. Darline and the two boys jumped, hearts thudding in their chests.

"Shit…. Shit, shit!" Darline panicked, holding her sons tighter. "Lucius, Levi.. I'm going to hoist you two up to the window so you can run away, okay?"

Both boys looked up at her now as another jolt to the door caused the wood to splinter further.

"No, mom. We're not leaving you behind." Lucius frowned, clinging tightly to his mother.

"You said nothing would tear us apart." Levi added, and Darline felt her eyes stinging with tears.

"I know… I know I said that. And I meant it. But you two have to stay safe. Even if they throw me in jail, I'll still be with you. Maybe not physically, but I will be. Now come on." She pushed the two off of her, standing up and holding her hands out for them.

The boys refused yet again. Levi stood, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at her, and Darline saw his father in him. "I'm not going to let them do to you what they did to dad."

Darline choked back a sob, her throat tightening at the mention of her husband's murder. Lucius stood and joined his brother, also crossing his arms over his own chest. The two were perfect mirrors of each other. "You two…"

With one last jolt, the door gave way and shattered into a dozen pieces. One surprised Military police lost her balance and stumbled into the blockade, successfully knocking it over and tumbling down the stairs along with it. She landed on the cement with a sickening 'crack' as her neck broke and the chairs and boxes Darline had pushed in front of the door landed on top of her.

The other two were a bit luckier and descended the stairs carefully. They drew their guns and aimed the moment they spotted their target. Darline's breath hitched in her throat and she threw her arms out to shield her sons.

"Don't worry Mrs. Ackerman", the older of the two remaining Police said calmly, aiming down the sights of his gun, which was pointed directly at her heart. "If you come with us quietly, your life will be spared and your boys will be put into nice foster homes and won't be hurt. We might even put some effort into finding a home that will take both of them."

"Fuck you!" Levi growled out from behind his mother's arm. Lucius stared wide-eyed at his brother, worried that the soldier might go back on the words he'd just spoken.

"Ahh, the little one's got some spunk, huh?!" Both Policemen laughed, and Darline looked over her shoulder at the small boy. "Levi, please… don't antagonize them. I promised nothing bad would happen to you two, but they won't hurt you if you don't tempt them!"

"Mom…" Young Levi Ackerman looked up at his mother, a feeling of dread weighing heavy on his chest. Despite that, he spoke the next words with such confidence that they could rattle any adult man. "I won't let them hurt you, no matter what. Dad said he'd always protect us, but since he's not here anymore, I have to."

His words touched her deeply, and her heart swelled with pride that this was her son. She was filled with new determination never to be separated from him or Lucius. Flinging her arms wide, she wrapped them both close to her chest, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "Please!" she shouted to the Police behind her. "Please, don't take my babies away from me! I'd do anything!"

"We gotta take you in, ma'am. With your connection to Dmitri Ackerman, the King has determined that you're too dangerous to remain a free woman. We can't promise the cell you'll spend the rest of your days in will be comfortable, but if you come quietly, we can assure you that you won't be immediately sentenced to death."

The two men took a step towards the huddled three, one of them pulling a pair of cuffs off of his belt, the other still holding his gun aimed at the woman. As they got closer, Darline's cries not to separate her from her sons grew louder, more frantic; and the two boys in her arms trembled at the impending fate.

But they wouldn't settle for it. At least, Levi wouldn't. In a split second, he'd ducked under his mother's arm and was making a mad dash toward the approaching police. The man was caught off guard by the sheer speed the kid possessed, and barely even registered when he had grabbed hold of one of the hilts of his 3Dgear, snapped a blade into it and severed the cord that held the hilt to his belt all in one fluid movement. Before he knew it, his own weapon was being held to his throat.

"Make one move and I'll kill you!" The steeled determination in the young boy's eyes was enough to knock fear into the man's heart, and he raised his hands in defeat. He wasn't ready for his life to end. Let alone at the hands of a nine year old kid from the slums.

But his partner had other ideas. He swung the barrel of his gun away from Darline and pointed it at the boy. Upon seeing this, Darline gasped, a scream wrenching itself from her throat. "No! Don't hurt him!"

In her moment of weakness, Lucius also sprang into action. He rushed at the Policeman with the gun, barreling into his knees and knocking him off balance enough for them both to fall to the cement floor.

The gun went off. In the tense silence that followed, the woman could swear her heart skipped forty beats.

"LUCIUS!"

Her head swam when she thought maybe her elder son had been shot, but the jumble of limbs a pool of blood was forming around moved, and soon Lucius sat up. The soldier lay beneath him, lifeless.

"You…. You little shit!" The last remaining soldier shouted, drawing his other sword and turning to Levi, who stood motionless, stunned from what had gone down with his brother. The boy just barely managed to regain his composure in time to keep his head, ducking underneath the sweeping blade.

But the man was fast. Faster than the nine year old anticipated and he managed to cut the boy's arm, despite Levi's nimble dodging ability. Levi hissed, clutching the gash on his arm as the sleeve of his gray shirt was quickly stained red.

That was when Darline couldn't stand to just sit by anymore. She had to do something before one or both of her sons were killed. She willed her body into motion, pushing past the pain and fear that was threatening to eat her alive in order to protect her sons. They were all she had left in this world. She couldn't lose them. She wouldn't.

Sprinting to the fallen soldier's side, she grabbed one of the sword hilts from the gear hanging at his hips, and did as her son had done mere moments before; snapping a blade into the hilt and severing the cord that connected it to the rest of the gear, before turning on her heel to face the last man standing, who was still swinging wildly at her son. Levi stumbled backwards, tripping over a crack in the floor and falling back just in time to dodge another swing of the man's sword. He was getting lucky, but Darline knew it wouldn't last forever. She had to act now.

"Lucius! Take your brother and run! Get out of here!" She screamed over her shoulder, charging at the Military Police. She had been in the Scouting Legion herself for several years before becoming pregnant, and so was decent with the flexible blades commonly used by the military. But, she'd been out of commission for nearly ten years, and her skills were rusty. The man she faced was much more in practice, despite the Police being relatively lazy and never having to face combat with Titans. He blocked her attacks easily and returned with a few of his own, all swifter and more precisely aimed than Darline's were.

"Lucius, now!" She screamed again, noticing neither of the boys had moved. At the frantic tone now in her voice, however, Lucius darted over, grabbing Levi by the arm (And ignoring his brother's protests as his wound was squeezed), and dragged him up the stairs. They had to maneuver a bit around the fallen blockade and the body of the first dead soldier, but being young, small, and nimble; they were easily able to make it to the first floor of the abandoned building, and outside.

Sun greeted their eyes harshly, having been sensitized by spending so long in the dim-lit basement. Pausing briefly to catch their breath, Lucius looked around. The house they'd taken shelter in was in the poorer part of the city (Which was saying a lot because most of the city was poor), with dirt roads and all the brick buildings huddled close together, forming narrow alley ways. Of course, he and Levi had been through said alley ways thousands of times before, the home they'd grown up in being less than a mile from where they were. They could easily lose the bumbling Military Police among them, if the bastard managed to escape from their mother, that is.

Lucius tugged at his brother's sleeve again, noticing the other boy hesitated and looked back at the house.

"Come on, Levi, let's go."

"But… what about mom?"

"She'll be fine. That bastard doesn't stand a chance against her! She was in the Scouting Legion, same as dad, remember?"

"But…"

"But nothing! Come on now, let's-,"

But before Lucius could finish his sentence, a gunshot cracked through the air, causing both of them to jump. Lucius felt his blood run cold as the sound bounced between the enclosed walls of the other buildings, causing it to repeat over and over, getting quieter each time. He saw his brother tense up, knowing the other boy probably felt the same. It wasn't a good feeling. It was like a boulder in the pit of his stomach. His knees started shaking and he felt like he could pass out any second.

"L-Levi…. You don't think…"

He trailed off as loud footsteps were heard coming up the stairs from the inside of the house. Footsteps that were too loud to belong to a woman wearing flats. They belonged to a man, wearing boots.

Their fears were assured when a blonde head peeked out of the house, disheveled hair gleaming in the sunlight. The man had a smug look on his face when he saw the boys, and exited the building the rest of the way. His uniform was dirty (Probably from climbing over the mess at the bottom of the stairs), and cut in a few places, blood staining the white pants red and the brown jacket nearly black He smirked, raising the barrel of his shotgun and pointing it at Levi's head, then Lucius'.

"Come on now, kids. If you comply, I'll make sure you two don't end up in a detention center."

It was then the boys both knew: Their mother was dead. Lucius shook uncontrollably from fear. Levi shook, though for a completely different reason. Uncontrollable rage. All he could think about was killing the man in front of them. He wanted to see the man choke on his own blood after his throat had been slit. He wanted the entire Military Police to suffer as they'd made everyone else suffer.

He hated them all. But this man in front of him was the worst in his eyes. This man had killed his mother. He'd be the first to die.

Still wielding the stolen sword, Levi charged at him.

Lucius' head spun when he saw his brother running at the Military Police, brandishing the sword. "No, Levi! What are you doing?!"

"You've got some guts, kid. I guess you want to join your parents, huh?" The man pulled the trigger, and the ground exploded mere centimeters in front of Levi's foot. It didn't slow him down. He was dead set on making this man suffer a horrible death, and he wouldn't stop until he'd accomplished that.

Tossing the rifle, which was now out of ammunition, aside, the Military Police grabbed the hilt that hadn't been severed from his gear and snapped a blade into it, meeting the strike that Levi sent his way. The kid was relentless. As soon as his sword bounced off the other, he was swinging it again, and again. The man dodged and parried, barely able to keep up with the incredible speed the nine year old had.

'How the hell is a kid so good with a blade?!' he screamed in his mind, trying to get his own attacks in, but as soon as he went to try and swing at the kid, he had to maneuver the sword back in front of his body to block again.

It was then he remembered who the kid's father was. Dmitri Ackerman had been one of the strongest soldiers in the Scouting Legion. There was no doubt he'd trained both of his sons in combat before his death.

And then something hit him. Literally hit him. It was small and hard, and bounced directly off of his forehead. It didn't hurt, per say, but it did distract him enough to count.

Levi swung the blade at the man's stomach, and this time it wasn't met with the resistance of another sword. There was a tense silence for a moment before he realized what had happened. The warm spray of a red substance that coated his shirt and skin. The squishing noises of whatever was inside the man as it spilled out onto the dirt. The startled gasp of the Military Police as he came to the same realization that Levi did, before the lights dimmed in his eyes and he collapsed to the ground along with his innards.

He'd just killed the man.

Shaking lightly, Levi looked down at the sword in his hands. It was stained with blood. His hands were, as well. Everything was. His shirt, his pants… he even felt it on his face. It was the most sickening feeling ever. He wanted it gone. He wanted any evidence of what had just happened to disappear from the face of the planet. He didn't want to believe he'd killed a man, even though before it had happened he'd wished for nothing more than that man's death.

He deserved it, after all, didn't he? He'd killed Levi's and Lucius' mother. The man deserved to die. Levi had wanted to kill him. But… now that he'd actually committed the deed, he felt sick to his stomach. And he wanted to scrub at his blood-stained skin until it peeled off and he could feel clean again.

"Levi…?"

Turning to the sound of the voice, he saw his brother standing a few feet away from him, a few pebbles still clutched in his hands. So that's what had distracted the man so much it lead to his demise…

"Lucius…. I….I killed him…"

Lucius nodded, dropping the rocks in his hands and pulling his younger brother into a hug. Levi squirmed, trying to pull away.

"Stop it. I'm covered in his blood, you'll get filthy!"

"I don't care… as long as you're okay, and the man that killed our mom is dead, I don't care if I get the blood of a million members of the Police on me." He pulled away, giving the other boy a comforting smile. "Everything's gonna be okay, Levi. Understand?"

Levi's mouth dropped open a little, grey eyes widening before he had to squint against the sting of tears. 'Understand' was something they and their mother had always done. She would tell them something and then ask 'Understand?' Instead of answering 'yes', or 'understood', Levi and Lucius would always answer with the grammatically incorrect response of 'Understand'. It had been their thing. And having Lucius ask him that just reminded him that they'd never see their mother again. She was…. Gone.

He nodded, gritting his teeth to bite back the tears and responded.

"Understand…"

Lucius smiled wider. Levi noticed he had red stains on him, transferred from him by the hug. The older boy didn't seem bothered in the least by it, though. All Levi wanted to do was find the nearest source of water, whether it be a faucet or a puddle, and get the blood off of himself.

"Let's go." Lucius said, nodding his head in the direction opposite of the house they'd been hiding in with their mother. He contemplated going back to the basement to see their mom one last time, but didn't think his brother was stable enough at the moment. Levi was still shaking like a leaf, and he gripped the hilt of the bloodied blade so tightly his knuckles were white. He also had a hollow look in his eyes that told Lucius it was better not to do anything else to rattle him just now. So he took Levi's free hand in his and started away from the building.

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Whoo! First chapter down. Many more to come. Let me know if you liked it by leaving a review. I'd like to hear what you guys think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Here's chapter 2 for you! Sorry if it's crummy. I had a bad bought of writer's block in the middle of this. I finally got over it toward the end, but Idk if it was too late to save it or not... I'm too impatient to do a lot of revising. All I do is a basic proofreading, but overall... I'm 70% satisfied with this chapter.

Also, thank you soooo so much to **Xrose96 **for leaving reviews on both 'Prelude to Rebellion', and the first chapter of this! Reviews really inspire me to continue writing. Thank you for your kind words. You're incredibly awesome. :3

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Avoiding the Military Police wasn't too much of a hassle, even though the two boys were now wanted criminals for killing not one, not two, but three members of the MP. They used the alley ways to their advantage, and took turns staying watch during the night while the other slept. Being able to eat was the hardest part. The first couple of days they scrounged through trash cans for scraps of food or coins to buy food with, but had little luck. When that didn't work, they taught each other how to pick pockets. When they could successfully steal a coin from the other without them noticing, they decided to try it out for real.

Lucius' heart pounded as he snuck up behind the man in the crowded town square. Despite the depression, things still had to continue on as normal in the city, and the market place was still bustling every day. But, because of the depression, the square was more and more susceptible to thieves, of which Levi and Lucius were now included.

The man who was their current target was in the middle of haggling a deal with a merchant at a grocer stall, a bag of coins hanging, very temptingly, off of his belt. The two boys had drooled upon seeing it, imagining the food they could purchase with those coins. It could feed them for nearly two weeks. The man was apparently well-off. Surely he wouldn't miss a little bag of coins, would he?

In his trepidation, Lucius trembled as he reached out to grab the coin pouch, keeping his eyes glued to the back of the man's head to make sure he didn't turn to find him. Due to this, he didn't notice as a stray cat ran in front of his feet, and he tripped over it. His hand instinctively clutched the closest thing to him to try and break his fall, that closest thing just so happening to be the coin pouch. This alerted the man to his presence, and soon he was being stared down and having a knife drawn on him.

Luckily, Levi had been keeping watch on his brother, and as soon as he noticed Lucius was in trouble, he'd run out, grabbed the other boy by the shirt, and dragged him away before the man could attack. They hadn't succeeded in stealing the pouch, so the man didn't take chase.

The alley they hid out in most of the time was well away from the town square and they were pretty sure no one even knew it existed. It was literally the only place they felt safe. Even when they'd been spotted by Military Police on a few occasions, they'd been able to lose them in the winding streets between the buildings and make their way back to their alley safely. They'd found a couple old mattresses in another alley and dragged them to theirs to sleep on. They were stained and they smelled bad, but it was better than nothing. The alley also had something no other one had: A drainage pipe in one corner would occasionally give them water that was clean enough to drink.

Most of the time, though, Lucius would find his brother at the pipe, using the water to scrub at his hands, splashing it on his face, and rinsing his clothes. Living on the streets was not clean in the least. Levi had never seemed to be bothered by filth in the past. Their room back home was always messy, and neither of them ever made their beds. Their mom had tried to keep a clean home, but they never helped and usually only made it worse. The only difference was, like most young boys, Lucius would regularly skip menial hygiene tasks like brushing his teeth or washing his hair, but Levi never did.

But ever since the incident with the Military Police, where Levi had been covered in the man's blood, he'd been almost obsessive in keeping himself cleaner than usual. It had gotten to the point where he hurt himself. He'd found a rough piece of rock to scrub himself with and had done so until his hands and forearms were raw and bleeding.

Lucius awoke one night to the sound of splashing water. He didn't even bother getting up from his mattress to see what it was. He already knew. The pipe had started releasing water again and Levi had taken it upon himself during his night watch to perform his washing rituals. But, unlike other times his brother had obsessively scrubbed at his hands, he heard Levi mumbling to himself now. Likely because he thought Lucius was still asleep.

He couldn't make out everything his brother was saying, but the world 'blood' made it through the jumble quite a bit.

Sighing and finally deciding to confront the other boy about this, he sat up, pulling his knees to his chest and peering through the darkness to where the water pipe was, as well as his brother.

"You realize the blood is long gone…. Right?"

He could tell Levi hadn't realized he'd awoke, as his small form jolted in surprise at Lucius' voice. Turning to face him, Lucius could see, even in the darkness, the madness that had appeared in those gray eyes. It was fairly disturbing.

"Are you fucking stupid?" The other boy snarled, and Lucius' brow rose, having no idea what Levi could be getting at. "It's not gone… it's stained everything… it's everywhere! I have to get it off… it's disgusting…"

"Levi…" Lucius stood and made his way over to the other boy, kneeling beside him. Levi had gone back to scrubbing at, well, everything. Placing his hand on his brother's shoulder, he sat silently while Levi started mumbling to himself again, which he could now make out due to the closer proximity.

"Everywhere… the blood is everywhere… it's filthy…. Have to clean it…"

It was official. His brother had lost it. Completely. He waited for several more minutes until Levi was finished before leading him back to where their mattresses where pushed together.

"You go to sleep, Levi. You're obviously deprived of it if you're seeing stuff… I'll take over night watch early."

"I'm not seeing things, idiot!" Levi growled, refusing to lay down.

"Yes you are. There's no blood. It's all gone. It's been all gone. And don't call me an idiot!" Lucius growled back, pushing Levi back onto the mattress. The younger boy sprang back up, grabbing Lucius by the front of his shirt. It was nothing new to them. Being brothers, they would squabble all the time and had even gotten into a few fist fights before. Nothing serious, or at least it couldn't get serious before their father would break it up. But… their father wasn't here now, obviously. Lucius feared how far it would go.

"Levi… let me go. Calm down. You need to sleep."

"Fuck sleeping!"

"Stop yelling, and watch your mouth."

"You're not my mom. Besides, Dad swore all the time. And he didn't care if we did!"

"Levi, stop yelling!"

Lucius, in a fit of rage, shoved his brother against one of the walls of the alley, clamping a hand over the other boy's mouth. It was for more reason than to just shut him up, however. Throughout their argument, Lucius could have sworn he'd heard something coming down the alleyways in their direction. Now that Levi was quiet, and he listened more closely, his fears were assured.

There were footsteps, and voices that were muffled by the distance still between them.

Now Levi could hear it too, and he seemed to immediately return to his calm, composed self. He shoved Lucius away from him, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"Your hands are dirty…"

"Shut up, Levi. We don't have time for this anymore. What should we do?"

The wheels were turning in the other boy's head, but Lucius could tell he was drawing nothing but blanks, which was unusual. For the past month while they'd been living on the streets, Levi had pretty much been in charge. He figured out how to teach themselves to steal, did most of the stealing himself while Lucius played the role of 'distraction' more often than not. But what had just occurred, which Lucius knew was, in some form or another, his brain being fried and his sanity slipping away, must have been messing with his thought process, so he couldn't come up with anything in time.

"Hey! I see someone over there!"

Lucius started, and, in panic, grabbed Levi and ran. He didn't know where to run, and he didn't know who was even chasing them, but his feet carried him further and further into the maze of the alleyways.

Taking a chance to glance behind them as they ran, Levi alerted his brother to the true nature of their pursuers.

"Lucius! It's the Military Police! We have to lose them!"

Lucius also spared a glance over his shoulder, nearly stumbling over a box someone had deserted in the alley in the process. The police were gaining ground on them. There were four of them in all, and were all too stupid, it seemed, to run one behind the other in the narrow passages. They all tried running side by side and therefore stumbled among each other's feet and over the garbage. Despite this, they continued to gain ground on the brothers.

Lucius and Levi turned a corner, and took a quick turn around another corner, hoping to lose the Police. However, the plan backfired and they soon found themselves at a dead end.

"Fuck!" Levi stomped his foot and turned back to the entrance of the alley they'd gone down. But they had no chance of escaping, because the group of men where just coming around the corner as well.

"Well well…. We were just following you kids because we thought you might be lost, but now that I get a closer look at you, I recognize those faces…."

Levi and Lucius took a step back as the group took another step forward into the alley. A second Police spoke up, his words more stupid than his face, in Levi's mind.

"Well…_ face, _seeing as they look the same. Right, boss? Hehe."

The 'boss' of the group, the one who had spoken up first, rolled his eyes and told the other to shut up. At least the brothers could agree with him on that notion.

"Alright men… these brats are the ones that killed Isaac and his squad. Our orders are to take them alive, but there's nothing that says we can't rough them up a little bit first. Have fun."

With those words, two of the group of four stepped further into the alley, looks of sheer evil bliss on their faces. Lucius backed up until he hit the back wall, but Levi remained where he was. The sword they'd stolen from the Military Police over a month ago had long ago grown dull and broken, but they'd stolen a few daggers to take its place, and Levi drew two of them out of his boots now.

Lucius' heart froze. "Levi, you're not thinking of fighting them, are you!?"

"We don't really have any other choice, do we? Either we fight or we get captured…"

He knew his brother was right. With a trembling hand, he reached down to his own boot to withdraw his own dagger. He hated to admit it, but he was petrified. They'd managed to avoid confrontations all this time, but now they were cornered by a group of Police that wished to do them harm. And he'd never killed anyone. He'd never even cut someone with a knife before. He didn't know if he'd be of much use to his brother during a fight.

"Lucius… just stay back. Let me take care of it."

"But Levi-,"

The younger boy turned to his brother, steeled determination in his gray eyes. "I've already killed someone, Lucius… I have blood on my hands. You're still clean. Try to stay that way as long as possible…"

Before Lucius could protest again, Levi was charging at the two Military Police that were approaching them. Though Levi had always been better than Lucius when they sparred with their wooden swords, and he'd already experienced real combat through his first kill of the Military Police from before, it was obvious right from the start that he wouldn't be able to take two Police on at once. They were adults who had gone through official military training and had graduated top of their trainee classes. Levi was a nine year old kid who'd only practiced what his father had taught him on the rare occasion he was home. The difference in skills was great.

Yet, Levi had something the older soldiers didn't, however, and that was determination. The Police lived only for themselves and their own desires, while enjoying a comfortable life and good pay. Now that the twin boys were on their own, they lived for each other. Levi was determined to not let anything happen to his brother. The Police had stolen his mother and father from him. He would die before he let them take his brother, too.

And it was because of this that he was able to hold his own against the other two. He even managed to sink his knife into the gut of one of them.

The familiar feeling of blood on his hands returned, and he grit his teeth to prevent himself from throwing up. It really was the most disgusting thing he'd ever felt. It was warm and thick, and reminded him that it was someone's life that was covering him… staining him forever.

The man didn't die, though- not right away at least. He grabbed his stomach in pain and stumbled away to slump down against the wall. Now facing only one Police, Levi's odds looked much greater. He ducked underneath the soldier's sword and jumped to the side to avoid another swing in a downward-motion. It wasn't too hard to dodge the man's attacks. He appeared to be somewhere in his fifties or even early sixties, and was a bit on the heavier side. He was slow.

And Levi was quick. Much quicker than his opponent, and he landed several cuts on the man's arms and body without even breaking a sweat.

"You little brat! I'll kill you!" The old man huffed, clearly out of breath and sweating. Despite his threat, he didn't make a move to make good on the words. He stumbled lightly from a loss of blood, looking as if he were about to pass out. Levi took this opportunity to strike.

As the old soldier fell to his knees, one of Levi's daggers embedded in his large stomach, he looked up at the boy with a look of pure self-pity that made Levi sick. He didn't want to see it anymore, and so he sank a third concealed knife between the man's eyes.

It was the most horrifying thing he thought he'd ever do. The knife didn't go in clean. As soon as the Military Police saw the blade coming for his face, he'd tried to avoid it, but wasn't quite fast enough. The stab was crooked. The flesh tore and the skull made a cracking noise that all in attendance could hear as the dagger pierced through it and acted as a wedge, splitting the bone as the heavy weight of the man's body fell to the side.

Levi released his grip on his weapon and let the man fall to the ground, dead. Very dead. Hands trembling and stomach knotting, the boy keeled over and lost his dinner on the cement.

The two remaining Police stared in stunned silence for a second before one drew his swords.

"You little bastard! You'll pay for that!"

The last remaining Police, the 'Boss', stopped his subordinate before he could strike the kid down. "Remember, Aston…we're to take them in alive…"

"But sir, that kid just killed Tobias and Regal!"

"Even so…" The Military Police team leader ordered the other to withdraw his blades, while fishing through a pouch on his belt for something. "Don't worry, though…. We'll avenge our comrades.."

Lucius, having run to his brother's side to inspect him for any serious injuries, looked up in time to see the man slip a pair of brass knuckles over his fingers. He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked back to see Levi trying to stand up.

"Why… don't you assholes just… leave us alone!"

"Are you fucking stupid, kid? You're murderers now. Before Isaac and his group, we were just going to put you in an orphanage, but now that you've killed at least four members of the Police, the only thing awaiting you is execution."

Levi grit his teeth, reaching for another concealed dagger (They both kept no less than three on themselves at any given time). "My brother isn't a murderer! And besides, it's not like you bastards haven't killed innocent people, too!"

"Ha!" The younger MP barked a laugh. "Anyone we've killed have been far from innocent… they likely deserved it for plotting against the king."

Lucius had had enough. He gripped the hilt of his knife tighter. Pure, unadulterated rage was building up inside him, and he realized this must have been what Levi had felt before he'd killed his first Military Police. Now, it was his turn. "Our mother and father weren't plotting against the king! They were innocent and you bastards killed them!"

He charged the two remaining Military Police, ignoring Levi's cries of protest from behind him.

'_You've done enough, Levi… just let me take it from here…'_

He didn't know what to expect. All he'd ever experienced as far as combat went was sparring with Levi, and that was the furthest thing from a fight for his life, and they'd been using wooden swords. This involved real weapons, and he knew if he lost, both he and his brother would end up in prison, and then would face public execution. Everything was resting on his shoulders.

There was one major difference between his and Levi's fighting skills, however, and this he learned through their sparring matches. While Levi was faster, stronger, and more fluent with his movements, the younger Ackerman would usually rush blindly into the fight without creating a plan of action. Lucius was much more tactful, and prided himself in always being one step ahead. It was because of this that he'd managed to keep a 50/50 record against his brother in their matches.

Stopping short a few meters away from the Police, Lucius crouched and swiped another hidden knife from his boot, skillfully throwing it at the man named Aston's legs. It hit direct in his shin, and caught him by surprise. He fell to the ground, crying out in pain and Lucius wasted no time, not even a second thought, in slitting his throat.

There was a spray of warm red life, and the boy shuddered, now familiar with the disgusting metallic stench and the feeling of being soaked in it. He'd be affected by his first kill later, however. There was one more problem standing between him and his brother, and freedom.

Turning to the last Police, the man seemed almost… frightened. It would seem comical, if Lucius weren't so hyped up on his own fear, determination, and adrenaline. His mind raced at a million miles an hour, trying to figure out how he could kill the man without getting himself hurt in the process.

"You know what?!" The man shouted, discarding his knuckles and clipping two blades into his sword hilts. "I don't give a fuck anymore, you kids are gonna die here and now!"

Running out of time to think, Lucius settled on luck. His small size and his speed would have to be his saviors here. As the Military Policeman ran at him, he did the same. He ran, full-speed, straight at the man who was coming at him with two swords that were almost as long as he was tall. He felt like an idiot. He wanted to say 'fuck it', turn and run the other way as fast as he could. But there was no chance of that. If he stalled now, he'd be dead. Besides, the 'other way' consisted of a brick wall.

The man swung at his head, and Lucius ducked underneath it, sliding on his knees 'until he was behind his attacker, and slicing at the back of the soldier's legs. He hit his target, which was the back of the man's knees, and from the way the other immediately lost the ability to hold his weight up, Lucius could only figure he succeeded in cutting the tendons. He then jumped on the man's back, plunging the blade directly where his heart lay beneath the skin and muscle. It was only seconds until he was dead as well.

Lucius took a moment to collect himself. He'd done it… he was now a murderer as well… he'd just killed two people. His hands were stained with blood, just like his brother's…

"Levi!"

He turned to where he'd left the other boy, no time to worry about what had just happened any more,and their eyes met for just a second. Levi looked on the brink of tears, and Lucius ran to his side.

"Levi… are you okay? You're not hurt, right…?"

Levi shook his head. "No… but, Lucius…. You…."

"There's no time for that… we'll talk later. But now we need to find someplace to stay…" He sighed, making sure he still had his last blade on him before standing and helping the other boy to his feet. "We can't really go back to our alley… the Police found it once, they could probably find it again."

"But…."

"Shut up for a second, will you?" Lucius frowned, looking down at the four still bodies that lay at the entrance to the alley. It was a bit hard to believe… four fully-trained Militia being taken down by two nine year olds… they'd surely gain some infamy. It didn't matter, though. They'd find some place to hide where no one would ever find them… then maybe they could live in peace again.

As he and Levi maneuvered around the bodies and started down the other twisting alleyways of the inner city, he thought his own ideals were absurd. Living in peace… such a thing could not be accomplished by anyone while the king and the Military Police were allowed to rampage and rule as they were… he wished he could do something about it. But for now, the most important thing was finding a new home for him and his brother, whether it be temporary or permanent, as long as they were together and safe, that's all that mattered.

"You know, Lucius…."

The older boy started from the interruption of his thoughts. "What is it?"

"I remember dad telling me a story once…"

"Oh boy…" Lucius rolled his eyes. Whenever their father had a 'story' to tell, it was usually something crude and inappropriate.

"No, it's not like that." Levi continued. He stumbled a bit, and Lucius wrapped an arm around him, pulling Levi's arm over his own shoulder to help support his weight. "He told me that… a long time ago, there was an attempt at making an underground city."

"Underground… city…?"

"Yeah…" They paused and Levi looked up, meeting his gaze once more. "He said it was built as a precaution… you know, in case the Titans were able to break the walls, the rich people would have some place to go to hide and survive." He frowned at this. Lucius knew his brother hated the inequality that had once existed within the walls. Those who lived within Sina were wealthy and lived comfortable lives as far away from the threat of Titans as possible, and those in the outer walls were basically sacrifices for those with more money. At least now, due to the depression, everyone save the king and Military Police where on the same level. "But… because the walls are pretty much impenetrable, the project was deemed a waste and abandoned… Dad said the is still there though… and people actually live down there."

Lucius let a small smile grace his lips. It was no doubt one of their dad's fairytales, made up off the top of his head to get the twins to go to sleep. But, he had to admit, the thought of an underground city sounded pretty nice at the moment. They'd be more safe there, at least…

That was when they passed over what appeared to be an average sewage grate, and Lucius spared a glance down through the cracks.

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**A/N: **Dun dun! Semi cliff-hanger thingy! Be sure to tell me what you think. Did this chapter feel too rushed? Am I getting a little too... _graphic_ with the deaths? The only way to let me know so I can make this fanfiction better for YOU all to read, is to REVIEW! Thanks!~

**PS:** Chapter 3 will be up within a week or two. I'm trying to update as much as possible, but it's tough. Especially since these chapters always turn out so long...


	3. Chapter 3

Here's chapter 3! Long time coming, I know. But, life happens and pulls you away from stuff you actually _want_ to do.

Huge huge thanks to **EternallyBurning **and **Xrose96**, my lovely reviewers (Also **Deviln**, but I think I already thanked you on Facebook. XD). Your kind words are so encouraging and nothing makes me happier than seeing a good review on something I've worked hard on. I'm glad you like this story. ^_^

This chapter is a bit slow. Nothing super exciting, but it is plot-advancing. Enjoy!

* * *

The underground city from their father's stories was real. Lucius didn't believe it at first, but what he saw beneath the metal grate had shown it all. At least a mile of open space, with buildings and lights and…_life_ far down below. There was a city there, and the brothers made it their mission to get there. It had turned out that they were in almost the perfect area, as the main entrance to the Underground was in an alley less than a mile from where they'd fought the four Military Police. They stumbled upon it purely by chance, but once they knew what the metal door in the ground was, they didn't need to exchange any words to know that this was it. Their new home. They'd go down to escape the Military Police and hopefully to find some solace.

It took the both of them to lift the heavy trap door open, and that was followed by at least ten minutes of descending a long flight of stone steps almost in pitch black darkness. They were scared, they had to admit. Everything that had happened just in the last month was replaying itself in their minds over and over. In just a few short weeks, they'd lost their mother, become orphans, started living on the streets, and became petty criminals.

Well… murder wasn't exactly 'petty'.

And now they were heading below ground to an unknown city filled with God-knows-who, to try and start a new life. Perhaps they were being too hopeful that this would turn out in their favor?

At long last they had reached the end of the steps, which opened up into the main square of the Underground city. The city was dark, and for the most part looked run-down. Some of the buildings on the outskirts were half-collapsed, and everything was dirty... no... _filthy. _It made Levi's skin crawl as he remembered how filthy he had felt when his hands were covered in warm, slick blood. Dirt had started to have the same effect on him.

They weren't exactly welcomed at first. Everyone who lived in the Underground was obviously skeptical of those who came from the surface, and two kids were no exception. Everywhere they went, people would give them looks, and no one would give them a roof over their head, even for a night. For a few weeks, they lived in an alleyway in the underground city, and the only thing that really made living down there better was that there were no Military Police to worry about. So they thought, at least.

Occasionally, the MP would arrive in the Underground, just for regular inspection and surveillance for a few days. The place was known for being the home to thugs and convicts, after all. Their excuse was that they were just making sure everyone was following the laws of the land above.

That was just once every couple of weeks, though. And Levi and Lucius managed to keep well out of sight every time the Police came around.

They eventually managed to find an abandoned shack on the outskirts of the city in which to take shelter. It was small and rundown, but worked just fine for the two of them. In that shack they managed to lead a decently peaceful life for almost two years. They still stole in order to survive, and both brothers now found they were getting better and better at it. Levi could 'bump' into a man on the street and walk away with a week's worth of meals in money. Lucius was more skilled at stealing physical food. He'd pretend to be browsing a merchant stall's goods, wait until the merchant was distracted with another shopper, and sneak off with pockets full of apples, or bread rolls, or the extremely rare chunk of meat.

Of course, they were caught on several occasions. Two unsupervised children were prime candidates for pickpockets and petty thieves in the Underground. Even above the ground in any of the cities they would be suspicious. Some of the people they stole from, however, seemed to take pity on them. They didn't let them get away with their goods, or even without punishment, but Levi and Lucius were lucky enough to keep their lives, though the beatings they got sometimes made them wish otherwise. Cracked ribs, broken wrists, concussions, and threats to cut off their hands (Though none of the threats were actually put into action) were the most common punishments they received when they were caught.

Though this just made them more determined to hone their craft; get better at stealing.

On their way back to the shack one afternoon after a successful run through the Underground's town square, the brothers chatted aimlessly about what they'd buy with the pouch of silver coins Lucius was bouncing in his hand.

"I think we should treat ourselves this time… we deserve it, after all. That was a pretty good steal." Lucius hummed, hiding the pouch by his side underneath the dark green cloak he wore as they passed by other citizens walking the streets. "Like… some nice cheese and dried meat."

"Cheese sounds good… meat is expensive, though." Levi murmured, tacking up the prices in his head. Having never received any formal education (Their mother taught them to read and write, and do basic math, but they'd never attended school due to lack of money once the depression hit), he didn't know whether he was right in the assumption that the money they'd stolen today wouldn't be enough to get them some meat. Neither brother knew exactly how to count money, and they knew several merchants had taken advantage of that fact and had taken more from them than what they really owed, but they could usually assume how long a certain steal would last them. Today's steal would probably only be a few days' worth of food. If they didn't splurge and get meat, that is.

"But, Levi… it's been so long since we've had meat. My stomach misses it." Lucius smirked, rubbing his stomach as it growled, making the presence of his hunger known. "I'm no omnivore. Besides, we can always just steal more tomorrow if the meat drains all this." He emphasized 'this' by flashing the coin pouch again.

Levi shook his head, sighing lightly. "It's getting kind of dangerous, don't you think? I mean… last time you were caught, that fat grocer sat on you and almost suffocated you."

Lucius groaned. "Ugh…. Don't remind me… But, it's not like you to be so cautious, Levi. Something wrong?"

The younger Ackerman brother stopped in the middle of the street and looked skyward. There wasn't actually any sky in the Underground, but the roof of the cavernous subterranean city was littered with stalactites that, Lucius had to admit, were pretty interesting to look at.

"Nothing's wrong…" Levi started, averting his eyes from the ceiling as a small group of people rushed past them, in the direction of the city's pub. "I just don't want you to get hurt. Remember what I told mom the day she died? Dad said he'd always protect us, but since he can't anymore,_ I_ have to. I wasn't able to protect mom, so you're my last chance to keep that promise. Got it?"

Lucius smiled lightly, knowing Levi's protectiveness ran deeper than just wanting to keep a promise.

"So…. I was thinking, maybe I could start taking up small jobs around the city." Levi continued, looking back at his feet as they continued walking. "Try to make an honest living… you know?"

"Who would hire a kid, though, Levi? And what kind of jobs would we do?"

Levi didn't miss the 'we' in Lucius' question. "_I _could probably help the fish merchant with his product… isn't he always complaining about how much he hates preparing the fish?"

Lucius crinkled his nose in disgust. "You wanna play around in fish guts? How very unlike you, Mr. Clean freak."

Levi's obsession with cleanliness hadn't lessened at all in the past two years since moving down to the Underground city. In fact, one could say it had gotten worse. The run down building they'd made into their home was near the large lake that filled half of the cavern-city, and this little feature was a great factor in what had finally pushed Levi into agreeing to live there. Their first day upon finding their now-home had consisted of cleaning the dirt and litter-filled shack from top to bottom. Lucius remembered making at least a hundred trips down to the water to fill the small bucket they'd found in the shack, and bringing it back up for his brother, who scrubbed relentlessly at the walls with a brush he'd plucked from the open window of a home, where the owner had been doing some cleaning of her own.

Not only was their home probably the cleanest building in the entire Underground city, but Lucius was pretty sure _they _were the cleanest inhabitants. The second day their shack, he and Levi had managed to pick enough pockets (People down below weren't wealthy in the least. They managed a coin or two per person on a good day) to buy a bottle of soap, and both brothers bathed in the lake every night.

Lucius had grown used to Levi's new little quirk, however, and was simply satisfied that he no longer woke up in the middle of the night, hearing mumbling about invisible blood and whatnot as Levi scrubbed his hands raw. And now, he felt comfortable enough to even make jokes about it.

Levi, of course, wasn't amused with the nicknames his brother would bestow upon him, but nothing he said or did would prevent Lucius from continuing to call him 'Mr. Clean Freak'.

Just before Levi opened his mouth to make a retort, someone rammed hard into Lucius' back, and he stumbled forward, the only thing preventing him from falling flat on his face being his brother. The boy immediately straightened himself, ready to turn on whoever had pushed him and give them a piece of his mind when he remembered the coin pouch. Running into others as if it were an accident was how he and Levi always pulled off their steals, who's to say someone else couldn't do it to them?

But the coin pouch was still safely gripped in his hand.

Still, he didn't like being shoved. He turned to watch as the one who had ran into him continued at a rather fast pace down the road in the direction of the pub.

"Lots of people heading that way today…" He observed.

"They all seem in a rush, too. Wonder what's going on?" Levi turned to his brother. Gray eyes met ice-blue for a second before the elder brother nodded, and they both started off in the same direction so many others seemed to be headed.

A large group of people were gathering around the local pub, which also served as the meeting place of the city, as it was located relatively in the center and everyone knew where it was and had stopped in at least once in their stay in the Underground city. A wooden stage had been erected outside the building, and a large bulletin board was perched atop that. The stage was commonly used for town meetings. There was no official leader of the city, but a few men who held power (The pub owner, the thug leader, and a few of the more successful merchants), would occasionally call meetings about things such as the Military Police invasions, preventing thieves (Which always seemed pointless. Most everyone in the Underground city was a thief), and increasing overall quality of life down below.

Now that they drew closer to the pub, the brothers could see three men standing up on the stage. One was trying to calm the crowds while the other two were hanging a large poster on the bulletin board. Levi quickly pulled his hood low over his face, and then turned and did the same to Lucius, when he recognized the military uniform the three men wore, with the green unicorn emblem emblazoned on the back of the jacket. Something was up. The regular visitation of the Military Police to the Underground city wasn't due for another week or so.

Pushing through the crowd of people, Levi managed to overhear bits of what the conversation was about.

"I hear the Police are going on a mass killing spree…"

"How is the king allowing this? I heard they went so far as to burn down several villages in the outer walls because a kid in_ one_ of the villages said he wished things were different in the world."

"Disgusting! I swear, if I weren't outnumbered a hundred to one, I'd make all those bastards pay…"

Soon, the three police standing on stage called for the attention of everyone gathered. The crowd fell relatively silent and hundreds of eyes turned toward them. When the leader of the Police squad felt satisfied that he'd garnered enough attention, he started speaking.

"As some of you may know, the Military Police's main goal for the past five years has been to bring traitors to our world to justice. Those who commit treason against the king or his rule are to be thrown in prison, and they'll be lucky if they aren't sentenced to death. As you can see, we of the Police don't take treason lightly.

"We have received notice that two traitors are living among the citizens of this city. Two young boys, eleven years of age, who two years ago killed several of our soldiers in cold blood."

"They probably deserved it!" Someone shouted from the crowd, and one of the Police on stage, clipped a blade into one of his hilts, threatening to slit the throats of anyone else who interrupted.

The first Police continued as he eyed the crowd. His gaze swept over everyone, including the twins, and Levi suddenly felt extremely grateful he'd thought ahead and pulled their hoods low.

"If anyone in this city sees either of these boys," at this, he pointed behind him at the poster the other two had pinned to the board, "you are to report directly to the first Military Police you see. Also, because of this update in our search, a squad of Police will remain in the Underground city at all times until these two are caught. They are to be provided with lodging and food, and are not to be got in the way of."

There were some angered responses from the crowd. Obviously, no one was happy to hear that the Military Police would be taking a permanent spot in their city. Especially not Levi and Lucius. Levi only hoped the other citizens, who had slowly grown accustomed to the two boys and some even growing to like them, wouldn't give their position away. After all, the sooner the Military Police could accomplish their task of capturing them, the sooner they would leave and everyone in the Underground would be able to return to their regular lives.

"The first squad of Police will arrive in your city tomorrow, and four squads will circulate every week until the traitors are caught. Please take a look at the poster and let us know immediately if you've seen these boys. Thank you for your cooperation and have a good day."

As the police stepped down from the stage, several others got up to look at the poster. Said poster was blasted with two hand-drawn images of what appeared to be the same boy. A boy with sharp features, narrow eyes and dark hair. The twins had no doubt in their minds that everyone who laid eyes on that poster immediately recognized who they were. The familiar sense of impending danger reappeared after two long years of absence. They grew anxious and knots formed in their stomachs. Lucius even feared he may wet himself when the pub owner stepped up, took a close look at the poster, then turned to look straight at them. Instead of going after the retreating backs of the Military Police, however, the large man simply turned and retreated back into his building, followed by several others who craved a heavy drink after the announcement given to them by the military.

Once the square was void of most life, save for the regular citizens and merchants who had gone back to their daily lives, Levi and Lucius stepped up onto the wooden platform and approached the bulletin board. The worst part about the whole thing wasn't that they were still being hunted down by the police, or the fact that the drawings on the poster looked exactly like them, but that they knew their semi-peaceful life of the last two years was about to come to an abrupt end. The only upside was that no one seemed too interested in turning them in at the moment. That could change at any time, however. Someone could get so sick of the Police invading their city, or the Police would grow impatient and bribe a willing citizen. Any of the thugs in the Underground would be willing to do anything, if given the right price.

With an irritated growl, Levi tore the wanted poster down and ripped it to shreds. "Fuck this… after everything we've been through, it's all going to hell again…"

"Levi…" Lucius frowned, not wanting his brother to get too upset over the situation. After all, they'd managed to lead a relatively danger-free life in the underground city for the past two years. The Military Police obviously weren't too familiar with the territory under the streets of the inner city of wall Sina, so continuing to avoid them shouldn't be too difficult.

"No! Don't try and tell me to calm down, Lucius! Why can't those bastards just leave us alone?! They're the ones who started this whole mess when they killed dad! We never asked to become killers…. We were just acting in self-defense…"

Lucius was about to say something, but Levi clamped a hand over his mouth when several sets of footsteps were heard walking across the wooden stage towards them. The brothers turned to look at who was approaching, hearts thudding in their chests and hoping against hope that it wasn't the Police coming back.

Instead, a group of kids (Or, Levi thought they were kids since none of them were as tall as the average adult) approached them. There were six in all, and each one of them wore dark green cloaks, much like the ones the twins wore, with the hoods pulled low over their faces. It wasn't too surprising. A year and a half ago, an MP warehouse had been broken into by one of the thug leaders in the Underground and the man had distributed the supplies amongst the people in the city before eventually being caught by the Police and killed on the spot. The cloaks had been in abundance in the warehouse, so most everyone in the Underground now had one. Which, Levi and Lucius were more than happy about. It made them blend in.

They stared intently at the group in silence, and the group stared back, before the tallest one reached up and pushed his hood back. As Levi thought, it was a kid. Older than him and Lucius, but still a kid. He gave a toothy grin and something glinted in his deep brown eyes that Levi didn't like.

"You're the Ackerman brothers, aren't you? The ones the Police are looking for."

Lucius tensed up, still clutching the coin pouch tightly in one hand, but reaching for a hidden knife with the other. Levi held out a hand to stop his brother from doing anything stupid.

"What's it to you?" He asked, trying to lace his voice with as much malice as he could muster. He didn't want this guy to think they were scared of him, because they weren't, and he'd actually much prefer it if it were the other way around. If this guy knew who they were, then he knew that they'd killed a bunch of Military Police. _He_ should be the one scared of _them_.

"We know your secret." The kid continued, and he motioned to the others in the group. "But don't worry, we won't tell anyone. In fact, we'd like to make a deal with you…"

* * *

Woot! New characters! Now the only question that remains is... are they good guys? .

Idk if I liked this chapter. Then again, I'm my own worst critic and am always unsure of whether or not I like my work. As long as you guys, my faithful readers, do though, it's all okay. Let me know what you think! And chapter four should be out shortly! I'll try to make it within a week.


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **First thing's first: A million and one apologies. .-.  
The reason I haven't updated this in such a long time is because I temporarily lost the use of my right index finger (Long story short: Mandolin slicers are VERY SHARP and slice REALLY WELL), so menial tasks such as writing or even driving became extremely difficult (Trying to turn the key in the ignition and my finger, wrapped in, like, 5 layers of gauze and bandages, pushes against the wheel. I whimper in pain. XD). But, I'm happy to announce that I've now regained full use of my finger and I'm back to writing. As an apology, I've made an extra-long chapter and I'm working on the next chapter the second I upload this, so it should be out within a week. (I'LL TRY TO MEAN THAT THIS TIME!)

PS: Because I was so anxious to get another chapter out for you all, I didn't take as much time as I normally do to revise and edit, so I'm sorry if this chapter sucks. .-.

* * *

Two more years passed in relative ease for the Ackerman twins. The Military Police, as they'd said, had positioned a squad in the Underground city at all times. However, as expected, the Police were relatively lazy and would spend most of their days at the pub drinking until they passed out.

However, on rare occasion, the Police would get serious, and at times they were hot on Levi's and Lucius' asses. The shack by the lake that the boys had called their home for the first two years in the city had been burned to the ground only weeks after the Police had arrived. Luckily for them, they'd been long moved out at that point.

The group of kids they'd met on the stage two years back had taken them in. The 'deal' they'd made hadn't been much more than 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'. If they helped them, they'd receive help in return. Levi and Lucius would steal for them so the group could eat and survive (Not that they couldn't steal for themselves; they'd just been attracted by the brothers' skill and notoriety), and in return, the other kids would help keep them hidden from the Military. It was sort of a mutual living agreement. _Friendship_, one would even dare to call it.

They had a pretty good hiding place, too. Not many people, even those who had lived in the Underground city for years, knew that there was a shore on the opposite side of the lake, and that that shore had several more abandoned buildings scattered about it. Rumor was that the city used to spread across the whole expanse of the underground, and that there used to not be a lake in the city at all, but a sinkhole had opened and water had flooded in. No one knew whether the rumor was true, but Levi and Lucius believed it. When they were lead to the opposite shore along a thin stretch of land that circled the lake, they found evidence to it everywhere. The most prominent being houses _in_ the water.

They took shelter along with their new friends in what appeared to be an old town hall. They'd noticed that had been something that had been missing from the other side of the city. After all, when this place had been under construction, it was modeled after the city above it, so surely it would have all the same types of building. Even with the depression, and the state the underground city had turned to with being filled with thugs and criminals, the underground had originally been intended as a safe retreat for the wealthy inhabitants of Sina, just in case the walls were destroyed and Titans invaded the human's land.

It was because of their well-hidden new home that the next two years passed by in safety. The only times they faced any danger from the Police was when they returned to the other side of the lake for a food or money run. They still needed to eat, after all, and feeding a group of nine was a lot more difficult than feeding just the two of them.

Now thirteen years of age, the brothers were gaining a little more respect in the Underground. Even though the other citizens were still robbed blind on occasion, the Ackerman's were rarely ever caught while stealing anymore, and were quickly making a name for themselves as some of the best thieves in the entire city, if not the best.

And the kids they'd started living with were grateful for this fact. It meant they got to eat every night.

Abdal, the self-proclaimed 'leader' of the group, was the one who had first approached them on the platform. He was the oldest there, being nineteen, and was tall, tanned, and with eyes and hair reminded Levi and Lucius of the chocolates their father had always bought them and their mother on St. Valentine's Day. The young man liked to boss the younger ones around, particularly Levi, who always seemed to butt heads with him. The two boys were both hard-headed and independent, and Levi didn't like the idea that Abdal considered himself the leader. It was never part of their deal to be ordered around, after all. Often times Lucius would wake up in the middle of the night to those two yelling at each other, Abdal throwing the word 'brat' around a lot, and Levi calling the other a 'shit head' so many times Lucius swore he was listening to his father yelling at a Military Police.

Cecilius was a pale-skinned boy with hair the color of fire. He, unlike Abdal was much more pleasant to be around. He was happy, friendly, and very outgoing, when his nose wasn't buried in a book. The fifteen year old, who knew to read only by being the son of a librarian and a bookstore owner, loved to read fantasy novels. Every other week he'd return to the hideout with a new steal: a leather-bound steal with a fancy scripture Title, usually. He'd often read the books aloud to the younger kids, and imitated the characters that were depicted within the pages. He especially loved the magic-users, and told the others he'd learn to use magic someday.

Gevaria, aged fifteen years, was always quiet, and when he did speak up, his voice was always filled with contempt. With sandy blonde hair and fierce blue eyes, Levi had been told Gevaria once belonged to a wealthy merchant family, until the Depression had caused his father to go broke and subsequently commit suicide. Despite his relative unfriendliness, he was strong and fast. He would occasionally give the others lessons in how to use the swords they'd stolen from citizens of the city, which had in turn been stolen from the Military Police, and, along with Levi and Lucius, did the majority of the thieving that the group needed to survive.

Jerick was a boy only one year older than Levi and Lucius. He and his younger brother, Maxime (Who was 10 and liked to go by 'Max'), both had skin darker than any tan, but piercing blue eyes. Jerick didn't talk much, but, unlike Gevaria, he was very friendly. He would always whisper a good morning with a smile, and was often the one who did all the cooking, when they managed to get their hands on some meat or eggs. One time he'd even thrown some vegetables in a frying pan (Which had also been stolen), and added some strange seasonings that had ended up in Lucius' bag by chance when he'd been out thieving one day. Whatever he'd done to those vegetables, they'd turned out amazingly delicious when he'd cooked them, and so he was always in charge of food. He was also very protective of those he cared about, but none more so than his brother.

Max was a lot like his older brother, except he wouldn't shut up. He'd always run around the hideout, following the older boys as they went about their chores and trying to 'be cool like them'. Whenever one of the others was feeling down, Max would always try to cheer them up with stupid jokes or stupider faces.

Linn was the older of the two girls in the group, at sixteen years old. She had tanned skin, well-groomed blonde hair for a kid living underground, and eyes the color of fresh-cut grass. She was always at Abdal's side, and the two often worked together in secrecy, though Levi and Lucius had a feeling not much 'work' got done when the two snuck off to their shared room by themselves. Max had also blurted out over breakfast one morning to everyone that he'd seen Linn and Abdal 'wrestling' in their blankets the night before. Of course, neither of the brothers wanted to explain to the boy that they weren't exactly wrestling…

Lastly, there was Raffaela, who much preferred to be called 'Rafa' over the name her parents had gifted her with. With hair the color of day-old spilled blood and eyes the same gray as the rags she wore, she was the same age as Max, but the innocence the boy possessed wasn't present in the young girl. Despite her age, she could see the realities- the atrocities and terrors- that occurred in this world. She was the only one within the group who had actually seen a Titan with her own eyes (Her parents had been in the Garrison and occasionally brought her up on the wall, despite the fact that no civilians were allowed up there. From atop wall Maria, she could see miles into the outside world, and had felt the fear strike through her heart at the site of the giant, naked creatures roaming around out there.). Her parents had also been killed by the Military Police right in front of her eyes, accused of treason and heresy. Despite all this, she remained as positive as she could be, and really looked up to both Gevaria and the twins, often training with them to be as good of a thief as they were.

Life with the group was peaceful, for the most part, except for when Abdal and Levi would go at each other's throats, that is. The older boy's favorite way to get under Levi's skin seemed to be his obsession with cleanliness. Abdal seemed to make their already run-down and dust-ridden abode even more messy on purpose just to piss the younger Ackerman off. But Abdal also liked to prod at one more prominent fact that became more and more apparent as the brothers got older.

Levi wasn't getting any taller.

Abdal liked to pick at this detail relentlessly, calling Levi 'shorty' and asking him what it was like to be the same height as an ant, which really wasn't necessary, in Lucius' opinion. Besides, it's not like Lucius himself was much taller. Being twins, they were pretty much identical in every way, except over time, he found that 'eye-level' with his brother was slowly getting lower and lower. They were actually the average height for their age, being just over five feet, but it was obviously Levi's growth was slowing down, and over the past year, Lucius had gained an inch on him. Unfortunately for Levi, he'd just drawn the short stick in genetics.

And then Lucius would laugh. _Short_ stick.

Really though, Abdal was just a bully, but Levi was more than able to stand up for himself. And he did, which resulted in just as many cuts and bruises as the merchants had given them when they were caught stealing years ago.

It was one such morning after a particularly violent feud. Linn and Rafa sat patching up Abdal and Levi respectively, and Cecil was trying to act as mediator between the two to try and prevent more fighting, when Gevaria and Lucius returned from a food run on the other side of the lake. Gevaria, though usually always in a bad mood, seemed downright furious, and he practically threw the bag of stolen goods at Jerick and Max, who sat near the small fire pit stirring a pot of broth. Not even paying attention to the protests as Max looked in the bag to find a mess of broken eggs, Gevaria stormed over to where Abdal sat, Linn wrapping his arm in some of the cleanest rags they had around the hideout.

"What's wrong, Gev?" The leader inquired, seemingly un-phased by the wrath seeping off the younger boy. It then became noticeable that he had something crumpled in his hand, and he threw it at Abdal's feet, practically spitting on the paper before the other could pick it up.

From his spot on the other side of the room (He wanted to stay as far away from Abdal as possible), Levi could see it was a piece of a newspaper. He looked up as Lucius approached where he and Rafa where, taking a seat with an exasperated sigh.

"What's going on, Lucius? What's on the paper?"

The older Ackerman shook his head, a sorrowful look adorning his face. "The Military Police are getting desperate. It's understandable, seeing as we've avoided them for so long… they've started interrogating citizens, sometimes going as far as to torture them, to tell them where we're hiding." He paused, looking over to where Abdal seemed to be trying to calm the still-fuming Gevaria. "That particular article was about the death of a shop owner that Gevaria had gotten close to… a victim of Police interrogations…"

Levi grit his teeth, anger bubbling up in the pit of his stomach. "Fucking Police…. Why don't they just give up already?!"

"I'm not sure, Levi… but I wish they did." Lucius looked down at his lap, where he was unconsciously wringing his hands in the hem of his shirt. Without even looking over, Levi could tell his brother was on the brink of tears. "I just… I wish everything could go back to the way it was…"

"It's a bit too late for that, Lucius…" Levi frowned, still trying to qualm his anger at the news of the shop owner. Across the room, he could see Gevaria had finally broke down in tears, and Abdal sat next to him in silence, rubbing the other boy's back in an attempt at comfort. Levi felt sick to his stomach, and almost wanted to join Gev in crying angry tears. Tears filled with nothing but contempt for the Military Police. After having seen more death in the past few years than anyone should have to, Levi had grown to despise it. He hated the fact that he and his brother had had to take lives in order to preserve their own, but he hated it even more when he heard about deaths that had no justified reason for happening. The shop owner didn't need to become a victim. He shouldn't have become a victim.

It was from that day that he swore he'd try his hardest to prevent any more unnecessary deaths.

* * *

"Can I have everyone meet in the Grand Hall, please!"

There was a moment where no one responded. Cecilius was hiding out in his and Gevaria's shared room, reading about a knight in shining armor who was on a quest to slay a dragon and save a princess. Gevaria was perched on the roof of the building, one leg pulled to his chest while the other hung through the hole in the ceiling he'd crawled out of. Jerick was showing Max how to make a fortune-telling game out of a piece of paper. Levi and Lucius were testing Rafa, pretending to be each other to see if she could tell which brother was really which (Sitting down so she wouldn't be able to see the height difference, of course).

Linn looked up at Abdal, who was tapping his foot in impatience against the marble floor of what they'd dubbed the 'Grand Hall', but was really just the main lobby of the abandoned town hall. He growled low in his throat, cupping his hands around his mouth to shout into the dark building again.

"By 'please', I mean if you guys don't get your asses in here now, I'll shove my foot so far up them, you'll taste the garbage I stepped in earlier!"

Though none of the others were intimidated by his threat, they soon all gathered with him and Linn in the lobby. Levi sat next to his brother on the steps that led up to what would have been the mayor's office, but was now Abdal's and Linn's bedroom. It wasn't unusual for their leader to request a meeting in the middle of the night. It was how they made plans for their next steal or avoidance of the Police, after all. But something seemed different about tonight. While Cecil and Gevaria started a fire in the small pit they'd created on the marble floor (Cecil pretending he started it with magic, of course, much to the delight of Max), Levi could see the spark in Abdal's eyes. He seemed almost…. Giddy, about something.

"So… as you all know, Police brutality has reached an all-time high, not just here in the Underground, but also above in Sina and cities in the outer wall as well."

"What's going on above?" Rafa asked, looking up from where she sat a few steps down from the brothers. Abdal looked in her direction, a somber expression on his face.

"I don't know how much of it is truth, but I heard they've razed whole villages, just for the hell of it. Out of fear of being arrested for treason, no one dare even speak up to them, or whisper any negative words about them or the king even in private, so they're getting bored."

"That's horrible." Jerick spoke up, undoubtedly the only words he'd speak for the rest of the meeting. Levi felt a tingling in the pit of his stomach, and he fidgeted lightly on the step.

"Where there any casualties…?"

Abdal glared at him, and Levi almost felt like getting up and punching him in the face. He really didn't know what that guy's problem with him was.

"Probably. I don't know, brat. What do you think?"

"I think you're an asshole is what I think."

Abdal tensed up, like he was about to pounce, and Levi stood up, despite Lucius' tug on his pants leg to sit back down, but Cecil's sing-song voice cut through the tension.

"Now now, guys… cool your heads. You can beat each other up all you want later on when Max and Rafa are asleep." When the two stepped down, he continued, "Now, oh glorious leader, what do you suppose _we_ do about the Police brutality? We're just a bunch of kids, after all…"

Abdal shook his head, a sly smile spreading across his face. "That's where you're wrong, my dear Cecil… we may just be a group of kids, but we've each survived through much worse than any Military Police, I'm positive. Sure, they went through formal military training, but remember that most of the current Police only got to the top of their graduating class because they cheated. The guys would kill their classmates to boost their own ranks, and the girls would sleep with their instructors for…'extra credit'. That's just the truth of the Police now. They also live cushy lives away from any danger. So, in the end, each of us has had more real-life experience and has faced more danger than a whole squad of Police combined. I believe we're stronger than them."

"What point are you trying to get at, Abdal?" Levi urged, getting tired of the inane rambling.

"I've got a plan…" The boy's brown eyes circled around the group of his peers. Levi had a feeling that whatever the teen was thinking, it would be stupid and ridiculously dangerous, as was normal with him. His thoughts were assured when Abdal opened his mouth again to speak. "We're going to create our own army. We're going to take down the Military Police and kill the king!"

There was a moment of stunned silence where the only sound in the entire building was the crackling of the fire and the occasional scurry of mice in the walls. No one dared speak. Several jaws had dropped open, a few pairs of eyes had widened in surprise. No one knew how to take this proposition.

Except Levi, that is.

He stood, gripping the railing of the staircase hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. "Are you a fucking idiot or something, Abdal?"

The older boy flinched, turning to look at him. Murderous rage apparent in his deep brown eyes. Levi didn't care. He continued talking.

"What you're saying is completely ridiculous. If you want to go and try to take on an entire army- an entire REAL army of men and women with training and weapons and Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, be my guest, but I'm not going to let you take everyone else here to their deaths."

Abdal clenched his fists, his teeth grit hard enough Levi was surprised they didn't crack. "You wanna run that by me again, brat?"

Levi cleared his throat and stepped down off the staircase. Lucius hid his face in his hands, knowing it was inevitable that there would be another fight. Besides, in a way, he agreed with Levi. It _was _absurd to think that a group of teenagers, not even numbering in the double digits, would survive in a full-on battle against the Military Police, who were older, better equipped, and more skilled than they were, despite what 'real-world' experience they've all had. He refused to look up, even when the sound of a fist meeting a face was heard, and Rafa, a few steps below him, gasped.

"You're a fucking idiot, Abdal…" Levi's voice, slightly muffled by what Lucius guessed was a bloody nose. "I don't care if you go and take on all of the Police by yourself, but the others don't deserve to be put in danger like that. And I especially won't let you put my brother in danger like that. I'd kill you first."

Lucius frowned, wrapping his arms tight around himself as the sound of a scuffle started to barrage his ears. He hated the thought that Levi would have to kill again, just to protect him. And, despite how much of a jerk Abdal was at times, he didn't want Levi to kill the older boy. He'd grown to like every single member of their group over the past two years, and Abdal was no exception.

He also hated to think of what the others would think of them if Levi killed their leader. Cecil, whom Lucius had grown extremely close to over their time together, had even claimed Abdal was 'like a big brother' to him and the others. Lucius didn't want the others to hate him and his brother. He didn't want them to get kicked out of the group, out of their safe haven. Their lives had finally regained a sense of peace and normality, and he wasn't willing to give it up, no matter what happened to the two of them. If that meant risking their lives in a fight against the Police….

His thoughts were interrupted by a shrill scream, and Linn shouting.

"LEVI, PUT THE KNIFE AWAY!"

'_Oh shit, he was serious!'_

Suddenly panic-stricken, Lucius finally looked up to see what kind of trouble his younger brother had landed himself in. Sure enough, the look of rage in his eyes was the same Lucius had seen when they'd faced off against Military Police in the past. The look that said 'Make one wrong move and your throat will be slit'. A glint of silver from the firelight showed a sharpened and impeccably clean blade in Levi's hand, likely pulled out of his boot. Old habits die hard, after all.

Everyone else had pounced at the sight of the blade, as well. Gevaria had his arms around Abdal's shoulders, holding the older boy in a 'T' position. Cecil and Jerick together could barely restrain Levi. Jerick had the boy in a sort of bear hug, his arms wrapped tight around his torso from behind, and Cecil's hands were gripping Levi's wrist- the one of the hand holding the knife- tight enough that he shook with the force.

Abdal growled, looking just as ready to kill Levi as Levi did to kill him. He kicked at Gevaria's shins behind him, screaming at the other to release him. Gevaria simply held him tighter, his strength surpassing the other boy's. Fierce blue eyes turned to look at Lucius, and the older Ackerman found himself frozen to the spot he sat.

"Call him off, Ackerman!"

Lucius blinked, not sure what Gevaria meant by his words.

"Quit staring at me like a lunatic and call your brother off! You're the only one he'll listen to! Get him to put the knife away!"

Finally finding the strength to will his legs to move, Lucius stood and made his way down the steps and across the Hall to stand in front of his brother. When he successfully blocked Levi's view of Abdal, he noticed that the shorter boy simply struggled harder against the two holding him back to try and peer around him. Lucius sighed, placing his hands on his brother's shoulders.

"Levi, knock it off. You're going to destroy everything we've worked for the past few years!"

The simple words seemed to be enough to break through to him. The cloud of rage that had filled gray eyes dissipated and was replaced with curiosity tinged with regret.

"Lucius…"

The older brother shook his head, a way of telling the other to shut up. "You may not like Abdal…. In fact, I don't like him either. I think he's a jerk and sometimes when he antagonizes you about your height and your need for cleanliness, I want to beat the shit out of him, too." He paused, sparing a glance over his shoulder to the leader of the group to make sure his words were being heard. They were. Abdal seemed to have calmed and, while he still looked pissed, he seemed a built guilty as well. "But if it weren't for him, we wouldn't be where we are now. Because of him and the others, we live a relatively comfortable life again. Sure, there's still danger and sure, we still have to steal just to survive, but if these guys hadn't found us and persuaded us to come with them, the Police would have found us long ago, and we'd probably be dead by now."

Levi seemed stunned, his arm falling slack until Cecilius felt comfortable enough to release it.

Abdal scoffed behind him. "I can see which of you is the smart one. Whether you like it or not, brat," His voice rose in volume, now addressing Levi, "I'm the leader here. So, if you don't like my plans, you can just leave! In fact, if you did and the Police got their hands on you, the rest of us would be safer."

Levi grit his teeth, and Cecil regained his grip on the knife-wielding hand, but one look from Lucius calmed the other Ackerman down enough that he lost all murderous intent. All Levi wanted in the world anymore was for his brother to be safe and happy, and that was exactly the case with where they were currently. He couldn't afford to get them kicked out. If that meant they'd have to face off against the Military Police…. Well, then he'd just have to protect his brother in a different way- on the battlefield.

He visibly relaxed, and when the other two boys finally released him, he put the knife back in his boot. Without another word, he turned and found a seat again on the staircase. Lucius let out a sigh of relief, going to sit a few steps lower. He figured, sitting in front of Levi, he'd be able to interject sooner if something else were to happen. Hopefully though, it wouldn't come to that.

Abdal jerked out of Gevaria's grasp and smoothed the wrinkles in his clothes. Not that it helped much. "Now that that ridiculousness is done with… where was I…"

"Drop it, Levi…" Lucius whispered to the boy behind him, almost able to sense when his brother tensed up in anger at being ridiculed.

"What should we call ourselves, Abdal?" Cecil perked up, standing by the fire with his arms crossed over his chest. He was obviously a bit excited at the idea of a resistance group. It was likely something he'd read about in one of his many books and thought it would be cool to do himself someday. "We need a noble name, for our noble cause!"

"A noble cause that will get us all killed…" Levi mumbled, and Lucius suddenly wished he'd sat behind his brother so he could kick him for his comment.

Abdal thought about it for a long moment, pacing back and forth across the expanse of the Grand Hall. Everyone was silent as their leader thought, despite Levi's urge to shout out sarcastic, degrading comments to the older boy. A few of them shuffled around uncomfortably, Max plopping down in Jerick's lap near the fire pit with a loud sigh.

The boy's eyes lit up as the perfect name stuck in his mind. "We'll call ourselves…" He paused for dramatic effect, looking around the rest of the group, "The Wings of Freedom! You know, after the Scouting Legion's emblem?"

Gevaria scoffed at the name. "That's so corny, Abdal.."

"Fuck off, Gev. The Scouting Legion opposes what the Military Police are doing, right? They seem to be the only branch of the Military with any sense of justice!" Abdal stood straighter, slamming his fist into an open hand. Determination showed bright in his chocolate eyes. "We have pretty much the same mission as them, so why shouldn't we take up the same moniker, right?"

There was a chorus of agreements that circled through the group, Lucius nodding his approval. Levi rolled his eyes. He hated to admit it, but Abdal's idea for the group's name wasn't half bad. He could deal with it, even if he didn't want to. The only one who didn't really seem to care for it was Gevaria, but he was outnumbered eight to one.

"That's that, then." Abdal nodded, crossing his arms. "We're now known as the Wings of Freedom, the Underground Rebellion."

"This is so exciting!" Max chirped, before his brother shushed him.

"We need to make it official." Linn said, standing up beside Abdal. "We should all get the Emblem permanently marked on our bodies, to show or loyalty to the group."

"How do we do that?" Rafa asked, finally speaking up again. Levi jumped lightly at her small voice, not having realized she'd taken a seat right next to him. Linn turned to the younger girl, a grin spreading across her lips.

"I know a guy on the other shore who does this thing called 'tattooing'. It's an ancient form of body art. We get him to put the Wings of Freedom on our bodies, and it will never go away. It'll be with us forever… just like our loyalty to each other and this cause… right?"

Abdal smiled fondly at her and nodded. "That's a great idea, Linn…" He then turned to everyone else. "Well, what do you guys say? We'll all get the Wings of Freedom tattooed on our bodies."

His question was met with silence, but when no one outright refused the idea, he took is as a go-ahead.

"Alright… we'll go tomorrow."

* * *

They met the man Linn had mentioned in secrecy, and he ushered the nine of them into his shop quickly. The squad of Military Police where still surveying the city, after all, even with having found no clue of the Ackerman brothers in years. The group had worn the dark green cloaks that were, by then, standard attire of the Underground City, with the hoods drawn low over their faces. Even though the Police had tried to ban anyone in the city from concealing their faces, people still did, and they blended right in with the crowd on the way to their destination.

The man they met with was rather large, towering even over Abdal by a good foot, and with shoulders nearly three times as wide. He had cropped brown hair hidden underneath a bowler cap, and a beard that hung down to the middle of his chest. Overall, a very intimidating figure, but he swept Linn up in a hug like they were long-lost father and daughter.

Apparently, tattooing was becoming popular in the underground. The man spoke with Linn aimlessly about his clients while the rest of them looked around the small building. The walls were filled with drawings the man had done himself, and Levi had to admit, the guy was a good artist. There was a set of chairs in the center of the room, one that looked like it had the capability to be moved down into a bed-like table, and a table to the side of the chair was lined with odd-looking machines, needles, and bottles of different colored ink.

"So, what can I be doin for ye today?" The man finally addressed the group, looking around them all. His eyes lingered all-too long on Levi and Lucius, and the brothers panicked for a moment, thinking he'd be just the guy to finally turn them into the Police, but his lips turned up into a smile- a friendly one- and he laughed. "I normally don' put me work on kids, but since Linn 'ere is a buddy o' mine, I can let it slide."

Lucius didn't miss the suspicious glare Abdal sent Linn's way, and knew there would be a rather loud argument later on about how exactly the girl knew this man, but he didn't dare pry.

"Well, Niall, we've sort of formed this group… and we have a mission."

The man named Niall raised an eyebrow in question at Linn's statement. She continued.

"A mission I can't tell you about right now, but just know that, if we succeed, it will make everyone's life a lot easier." She paused for dramatic effect and waited for Niall's motion to keep going. "So, the symbol of our group is the same as the Scouting Legion's, being the Wings of Freedom, and we'd each like that symbol tattooed on our backs."

Gevaria spoke up then, annoyance evident in his voice. "Hey, who decided you get to pick where everyone gets it done?"

"It only makes sense, Gev." Abdal interjected, "Just like the Scouting Legion's uniform has the symbol across the back, we'll get it there too."

"We're not Scouts, though!"

"Close enough, aren't we?" Abdal turned to the other boy, crossing his arms over his chest. "The only thing preventing us from going through the training necessary to join the Scouts is that _they_," He jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Levi and Lucius, "Are with us and could get us all thrown in jail."

"Or killed…" Linn murmured.

Levi didn't miss the hint of venom in the girl's voice. She was obviously still pissed at him for attacking her boyfriend the night before.

"Righty, so the Wings o' Freedom on e'erone's backs, eh? You know me work ain't cheap, sis." Niall peered down at Linn, who seemed unperturbed.

She smirked, pulling a pouch out from underneath the heavy cloak she wore. "I've been saving up for quite some time. I was planning on using it to move back above ground and buy a proper home, but plans changed…." She dropped the pouch on a table nearby, and the burly artist eyed it. "Don't worry, Niall… if it's not enough, I'm sure we'll all be rolling in money once our mission succeeds."

That seemed to be good enough for him, and he rolled up his sleeves. "Who wants ter be first, then?"

* * *

Yay! Chapter 4 down! This chapter was a whopping 5,875 words, whereas the average length of my other chapters is about 4,500. XD

The idea for the tattoos came from... well... my love of tattoos (I've got 4, and planning on much much more in the future), but also various fanarts I've seen where Levi has the wings of Freedom tattooed on his back. And it'll come into play more in the future (Not spoiling anything yet... .)

So! Be sure to leave me a review, or favorite/follow this piece of work to let me know my efforts aren't a waste and it's worth continuing! Thanks so much for reading! ^_^


	5. Chapter 4 and a half

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Lookie that! A new chapter less than 24 hours after the previous one! I guess I'm making up for lost time while I was missing a finger. I dubbed this one 'Chapter 4.5', because it wasn't planned at all until I finished chapter 4, but I realized a little... something... was missing between chapters 4 and 5. And so this was born. Enjoy!

**UPDATE- 6/15/2014: **Looking at this the next day, I realized I made a lot of errors that I completely missed in my review/editing phase. I'd been up for about 30 hours, so I was tired as hell and, obviously now with my mind more clear I can see the mistakes easier. So, I fixed them! Don't worry. ^_^

* * *

'_Fucking Bastards…'_

Levi groaned into his pillow, laying face-down on the mattress that made his bed. It had been almost a unanimous decision when they'd gotten their tattoos that he would be the first to go. As far as he could remember, because he was pretty sure he'd blacked out at one point, it hadn't been a pleasant experience. The man had taken one of the strange machines in hand and flipped a switch, causing it to spring to life. He didn't know how the machine worked. He read in one of Cecil's books one time that there used to be a thing called 'electricity' that caused all sorts of machines to work, as well as provide light more bright than any fire could produce, but that science had been lost long ago. Still, the gun-shaped machine whirred with a power unlike any he'd seen before, and when it descended upon the skin of his back…

Levi was no stranger to pain, especially since he and Lucius had been living on the streets and below ground. He'd had fractures and broken bones, abrasions, lacerations, burns and concussions. He'd even accidentally sliced the very tip of his finger off while sharpening one of his knives one day(**AN: 1**) But when he felt the needles stabbing into his skin repeatedly, a hundred times a minute for what seemed like hours, the pain had eventually gotten to be almost too much. He remembered biting down on his bundled up shirt to stop himself from breaking his teeth against each other. He remembered Lucius and Rafa holding his hands, and a look of uneasiness on Abdal's normally smug face. That had given him a feeling of elation before he'd blacked out.

When he awoke about a half hour later, Niall had just been finishing up his tattoo, and rubbing his back down with a cool, wet cloth that felt much better than it should have. His back was on _fire!_ It took the help of both Lucius and Cecilius to help him off the table and to replace his shirt once his back had been covered in a bandage. Afterwards, he'd sat next to Lucius in the corner of the shop and napped with his head on his brother's shoulder for a few hours while the others took their turns.

Over all, they were there for nearly a whole day, and returned to their hideout across the lake the next night, all sore and exhausted. Rafa, who had by far taken the process the worst (The poor girl had screamed and cried nearly the whole time), was out cold and Levi carried her home on his back, ignoring the intense burning of having her extra weight pressing against the fresh tattoo. They'd all decided it would be best to take the next few days off. They had enough food left over from their last run to last a couple days if they rationed it well, so they opted for lounging around the hideout.

He'd been lying on his mattress since he'd woken up an hour ago, thinking about nothing and anything at all. He found, something that had been occupying his mind a lot lately, besides their inevitable death whenever Abdal decided they would attempt their attack on the Police, was his mother. He'd thought he'd grown accustomed to life without her, but having the past couple of days just to himself and his thoughts- the first couple of days he's had such time for four years- he couldn't help but find himself thinking of her.

Truth of the matter is, he really missed her. And he felt ashamed because he wanted to be strong for his brother, and now for Max and Rafa, who, despite his best interests, really looked up to him. But when he thought of his mother, he felt like a scared little boy again and all he wanted to do was curl up under the thin blanket and cry. He hadn't cried in so long, he wondered if his eyes could even produce tears anymore. He felt helpless when he thought of how he would never see his mother again. On how it was impossible to see her again. Unless an afterlife, like the one he'd read about in another of Cecil's books, really did exist. If it did… maybe he and Lucius would be joining her there soon.

And when he thought about it that way, dying in Abdal's obscene plan didn't sound so bad.

His attention was drawn away from his thoughts when he heard joyous laughter from the corner of the room. He lifted his head out of the rock-hard pillow and peered at the two intruders. Cecil and Lucius were huddled together over a book, big stupid grins across both their faces.

Even though the room was shared by him and Lucius alone, a portion of Cecil's book collection had gathered in there. Not that he minded much. He knew how to read, and could do so quite well, so the books kept him entertained when he had a bit of spare time, which he felt he had way too much of in just the past few days.

Aside from that, he didn't mind because he knew Cecil meant a lot to his brother.

Whether it was just the best friendship he'd ever seen or some type of romance blossoming between the two boys, Levi didn't know, but whenever Cecil entered the room, the older Ackerman brother lit up like he'd just come away from an extremely successful steal. The two had bonded over books, and Lucius had quickly grown to love stories as much as the red head did, and when the brothers had some time alone, the talk was often filled with Cecil or stories that Lucius and Cecil had read together. He even talked about becoming a novelist with Cecil when their rebellion was over and they could all live in absolute peace again.

Levi was glad his brother had made such a good friend in the other boy. And he liked Cecil, no matter how much the other stood up for Abdal or took the older boy's side in any spats he and Levi had. Which, thankfully had died down a bit the past couple days. He didn't know if it was just because it was down time, or if Abdal was finally starting to change his ways. He did appear to be rather perturbed when Levi had been in pain during the tattoo…

Whatever the reason, he was just glad Abdal had left him alone. Aside from his back hurting, he had a headache and hadn't felt very motivated to do anything buy lay around the hideout all day. He knew the others probably felt the same (In fact, Max had been complaining quite loudly about how much he hurt nonstop, even when his brother would smooth the salve the artist had given them over the young boy's back), but he was feeling like absolute crap.

He groaned again, alerting the other boys of his presence in the room. Of course, he knew they knew he was there, but he figured they probably thought he was still sleeping. This thought was assured when they both jumped. Lucius turned to face him, a slight blush creeping over his face.

"S-sorry, Levi… did we wake you up?"

He smiled lightly. "No… you're just making my headache worse than it already is…"

Cecilius scratched the back of his neck, laughing nervously. "Sorry… I just wanted to show Lucius this book of jokes I found."

"And by 'found', you mean stole…. Right?"

Cecil shrugged, obviously not denying the fact. "If you want, we could just go to another room…"

Before Levi could open his mouth to respond, there was a rather loud commotion coming from the Grand Hall. He'd overheard earlier that Abdal, Linn, and Gev were going on a trip across the lake for some supplies, but hadn't expected them back for quite a while yet. He tensed up momentarily, expecting the worst, before he heard a familiar voice calling everyone to the Hall for a meeting.

"Well, forget your joke book for now…" Levi huffed, getting up from his bed and quickly straightening out the blankets before straightening out his clothes. He brought the collar of his shirt to his nose, cringing a bit at the smell. He'd attempted to bathe and wash his clothes in the lake like usual the night they returned after the tattoos, but submerging his back in water had only made the pain worse and he hadn't attempted it again since. His skin crawled at the thought of how disgusting he'd allowed himself to get. He pushed his disgust aside for now, vowing to take a bath later. "Our leader needs us."

The other two didn't miss the hint of sarcasm when Levi referred to Abdal as their 'leader'. They both knew he still disliked the older boy, and despised thinking of him as any kind of authoritative figure. And, they felt anxious while heading down to the Grand Hall with him, knowing how violent things had almost turned last time a meeting had been held.

Once there, they saw what had made such a loud noise upon the three's entrance. Two complete sets of 3D-Manuever Gear, as well as several sets of extra blades, lay strewn across the marble floor. Lucius, standing between his brother and his best friend, stared wondrously at them. They were shiny and beautiful, and everything he'd remembered from his father's own set. But… He didn't know what to think of them being lain out at his feet like this. He looked up to the leader for answers.

"Take a good look, boys." Abdal smirked as the others joined them in the Grand Hall. Rafa and Linn made no objections to being called 'boys'. Abdal referred to everyone as 'boys' (Well, he referred to Levi as 'brat', but it was close enough). "Aren't they pretty? And they're all ours!"

Levi shook his head in disbelief. The 3D gear was some of the most precious equipment owned by the Military. He wondered how daft the Police had to be to let a few kids steal two whole complete sets.

"You'll never believe how we got them, either!" Abdal continued, clearly excited, "That tattoo artist we visited the other day, Niall? Well, he got into an argument with one of the Military Police stationed across the lake. Knocked the fucker out cold. And when his buddy came in, he knocked that fucker out as well!"

"Niall's awesome!" Max cheered.

"You bet your ass he is, Maxy." Abdal beemed, kneeling down to pick up one of the sets. "Well, when he saw us, Niall was more than happy to strip the two of all their gear and hand it over to us! He said 'consider it an apology for making that poor girl cry.'"

Everyone's eyes slid over to Rafa, who was blushing furiously.

Linn spoke up then, throwing her arms wide in excitement. "Don't you guys see what this means, though? We now have two sets of 3D-Manuever Gear… if we learn to use it, we could have the upper hand in our attack on the Military Police in a few weeks!"

Levi scoffed, still thinking it ridiculous that any of them felt they stood the slightest chance against the Military Police.

"I want us to start training with these right away… Brat, Ackerman, you two know the basics of sword fighting, right?" Levi and Lucius nodded, the former with a death glare. "Great, so I'll leave you in charge of teaching everyone else to fight. Since none of us know the gear, we'll just have to dabble with it. Enjoy the next three days, boys. Because after that, it's nothing but hard work and training!"

* * *

After a few more days of resting and letting their tattoos heal, it was time to begin training with the stolen gear. Not too far away from their hideout, on the very edge of the Underground City's cavern-like walls, was an abandoned factory that they deemed perfect for their training. It was huge, and, during construction, they'd never gotten around to installing whatever machines would have been in the factory for whatever uses. Either that, or they'd been stripped by thieves and sold for parts. So the place was basically one big empty training grounds for them.

Fortunately for them as well, they had plenty of leftover hilts from blades they'd stolen in the past that the extra swords weren't a problem to use. Levi and Lucius were primarily in charge of teaching the others how to properly use the swords, recalling what their father had taught them in the past about combat. The older boys picked it up quite easily, though Jerick, Max, and the girls appeared to have a little difficulty. Lucius offered to give each of them one-on-one lessons later on.

_Unfortunately_ for them, the 3DMG did not come with an instruction manual. And, though the twins had seen the gear up close and personal from their father's equipment, they never quite realized how many fucking straps the thing had. It was absolute hell trying to get the things on, and even after almost an hour of struggling with the various pieces of leather and metal, they weren't completely positive they had it right. Nevertheless, Levi and Lucius were soon suited up and ready to give the gear a try for the very first time.

"You guys should try balancing first! That's what big brother says they do in basic training!" Max chirped, hoping up and down excitedly from one of the suspended walkways above the large interior room of the factory.

"Alright alright, calm down…" Levi grumbled, fidgeting with the metal contraptions hanging at his hips. It didn't take him too long to find the triggers that would release the grappling hooks, though there were three in total on the hilt. The largest of all three was the one that shot the hooks, and the smaller two were to reel yourself in and release the hooks from whatever they'd been shot into respectively (**AN: 2**). After carefully aiming them towards a balcony above his head, he pressed the largest trigger. With almost enough force to push him backwards, the hooks released, shooting upwards with a whirr and embedding in the metal thirty feet above.

'_Now…. How to retract the cord just a little so I lift in the air….' _

He knew it was one of the smaller triggers, but he had no idea which one. Taking a deep breath and hoping that this didn't shoot him up to smash his head against the ceiling in a bloody explosion, he pressed the top trigger, just gently.

He jolted upward a bit and, startled, released the trigger. Upon its release, he ceased to move upwards and swayed in midair, suspended a good five feet off the ground. Feeling such relief that he was still in one piece and he had a relative grasp on how this crap worked, he didn't even notice how easy it was to balance until he heard a scream to his right. He turned his head in time to find Lucius tipping forward until his head smacked against the stone ground with a sickening 'thud'. Having watched his younger brother, the other boy had managed to get his hooks in a similar swing-form and get himself a few feet off the ground. However, it didn't seem as if the elder was able to get his balance.

Levi flinched as he watched Lucius push his face off the floor, leaving a trickle of blood in its wake. "You okay….?"

Not surprisingly, Lucius was a bit agitated. He was likely embarrassed, and his nose was bleeding profusely. It was rare that Lucius got angry, but Levi didn't blame him in the least. "Does it look like I'm okay, Levi?! Does it really?" He growled, going to lower himself back to the ground so he could try it again. Unfortunately, he pressed the wrong trigger and instead jolted higher.

Now with Lucius hanging upside down, Levi tried his hardest not to laugh as he peered up at his brother. "It's the bottom trigger to release and retract the hooks, Lucius…"

"You couldn't have told me that SOONER?!"

Lucius grumbled and pressed the other trigger. The hooks released from their metal entrapment above, and the cords retracted and snapped back into the gear before gravity even had a chance to take over. Lucius fell, luckily not too far, to the floor, and landed hard on his ass.

"It's okay, Lucius. I still think you're cool." Max's small voice rang through the silence high above their heads, and that's when Levi lost it. He laughed. And he laughed hard, and he laughed freely. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed, but he doubted it felt as good as this. Even when his stomach started to cramp up, and he had to grab one of his cords to keep himself from tipping over, he continued to chuckle, only silencing himself when he saw ice-blue eyes glaring daggers at him.

"S-sorry, Lucius…"

The older boy's eyes softened, and his scowl was replaced with a soft smile. "It's okay… it's nice to hear you laughing again, Levi…"

Once the boys- both of them- had gotten the hang of balancing and what each of the different triggers on the hilt did, they tried moving across the expanse of the room. Levi seemed to be a natural, and was soon swinging across the factory room, much like a story Cecil had read Max and Rafa once about a man who lived in the jungle and swung through the trees on vines. He wished he could say Lucius was a natural expert at the gear, too, however, his brother seemed to stumble over the triggers far too often, and smacked into the floor or walls, even the ceiling once, more times than he could count.

After a good hour of flinging around the factory on the 3DMG (Or trying, on Lucius' part), Levi relinquished the gear to Gevaria and, after helping the other boy settle all the straps in the appropriate places on his body, sat back on a pile of rubble from a partially-collapsed wall and took a swig from his canteen. He'd never used the gear before today, and had no idea it would be such an intense workout.

Lucius soon joined him, after giving the gear he'd been using to Cecil, and the two sat together in silence for a bit while they watched their friends grow accustomed to balancing on the cords. Cecil, much like Lucius before him, fell flat on his face the first try. Either the gear was broken in some way, or both boys were just extremely klutzy and ungraceful.

It was probably the latter.

"So… the 3D gear is pretty amazing, isn't it?" Lucius finally spoke up, pulling his knees to his chest and watching as Gevaria was soon zipping around the large room.

"Yeah, it really is…" Levi agreed, looking across the room to where Abdal and Linn were sparring with the blades they'd brought back with the gear, then back to the two boys. "Now I know what dad was talking about when he would try describing it to us…"

"He said he'd felt freer than the birds in the sky." Lucius added, thinking back on the stories, just a few out of dozens, that their father would recite to them as kids.

"It does feel like you're flying…. Like you're weightless…"

"Like you can go anywhere… do anything…"

The two looked at each other before breaking out in laughter.

"Wow, Levi, we should write poems."

"That has probably got to be the worst idea I've ever heard, dear brother."

The laughter died down a bit as Levi drifted off into thought for a moment. "Worst idea, except for this rebellion, that is."

Frowning lightly, Lucius looked over at his twin. "That still bothering you?"

"Of course it is…" Levi nodded and mirrored Lucius' sitting position, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his chin atop them. "You really think any of us will make it back alive?"

"To be completely honest…. Probably not."

That certainly didn't make the younger brother feel any better. He felt a black hole forming in the pit of his stomach, threatening to engulf his entire being and everything around him. It made him feel sick, and though he hadn't eaten much that day, he could feel it making its way back up.

Lurching to the side away from Lucius, he emptied the contents of his stomach on the stone floor.

Worry evident on his face, Lucius knelt beside his brother, rubbing the other's back lightly. "You're really freaking out about this, aren't you, Levi…?"

Levi grit his teeth, the taste of bile fresh on his tongue. He took a swig from his canteen and swished it around in his mouth before spitting it out. "And why aren't _you_? You just said yourself that you think we're all going to die. Do you want to die or something, Lucius?"

"Of course not…" The older Ackerman brother grimaced, looking up to where Gevaria and Cecil had started a game of tag in the air. "But everyone else seems just fine about it… they're probably just good at hiding their worry, so I figured I should try hard to hide it, too…"

Levi sat back, scooting as far away from the mess he'd made on the floor as possible. He looked over at Lucius, dubious of his words. "We should just give up on this whole mess…"

"Well, Levi… we've already committed to it, haven't we? It's permanently emblazoned on our backs…"

He sighed, curling back up into himself. "Don't remind me…"

Lucius was silent, fidgeting uncomfortably next to him. "You don't… regret it, do you…? Well, I mean… obviously you regret it, but…why? If you really wanted us to leave… Levi, if you'd left the group you know I would have come with you."

"That's the thing, though." The younger Ackerman sat back a bit, watching as Cecil tried doing somersaults with the 3D gear and only succeeded in getting himself tangled in the cords. "I didn't want you to leave… even with an insane leader who would force you to certain death, I feel you're still safer here than we would be out there on our own… And that's why I agreed to it."

"Just for me…?" Lucius frowned, a familiar feeling of guilt filling him. "You don't have to always protect me, you know…"

His proposal was met with a shake of the head. "Remember the promise I made…?"

Lucius smiled lightly, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah… since dad can't protect us anymore, you have to…"

"And I couldn't protect mom, so you're my last chance." Levi finished, wrapping his arm around Lucius' shoulders in a form of hug. "Also… I just don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Lucius… you're the only thing have left in this world…"

Lucius sighed lightly, leaning into his brother's hug. "I feel the same… Yeah, there's Cecil and the others, but if I lost you, Levi, I'd have no reason to live anymore…"

"Then we'll both have to do our best not to die in this upcoming mission." Levi muttered, chewing his bottom lip nervously. "Though… if it comes down to it, I'd gladly give my own life to protect yours."

Lucius accepted that with a nod. "And I'd do the same…"

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, however, the silence was broken by Lucius's voice again.

"Levi… I'm glad to have you as a brother…"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **D'awww, got kinda cutesy there at the end. Brotherly love, no~? (NO! NOT INCEST!)

**AN: 1- **This was a little allusion to my real-world dilemma of the last two weeks... lol

**AN: 2- **I DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT HOW THE 3DMG WORKS! But, upon looking at blueprints of it, something I noticed was that the hilts have 3 different triggers on them. I figured one would be to shoot the hooks, one would be to propel them forward, and the last would be to retract the hooks. Makes... some form a sense, I hope.

Be sure to leave a review! The more reviews I get, the faster I get the next couple of chapters out. Plus, it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Thanks for reading!


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